Fallen Leaves
by Suki-Itami
Summary: --Full summary inside-- There have been many kidnappings lately in the quiet village of Konohagakure; all who were kidnapped were killed brutally. When a young girl comes to Konoha to... Neji/OC


_**Story: **__Fallen Leaves_

_**Summary:**_ _There have been many kidnappings lately in the quiet village of Konohagakure; all who were kidnapped were killed brutally. When a young girl comes to Konoha to escape her parents from the Sand Village – posing as Suna's representative with Gaara's permission to do so – she could find herself possibly being targeted. One person tries to tell her to leave once he realizes that she's being targeted, but she just won't listen to him because she doesn't want to leave him. Inspired by __"Fallen Leaves"__ by Billy Talent. Neji/OC_

_**Warnings: **__Language, violence, disturbing content._

_**A/N: **__This isn't rated M for the hell of it. This __**does **__contain explicitly detailed scenes of dismembered, burned, and/or carved bodies. If you feel like you couldn't handle it, click the "back" button; all flames will be deleted on sight. Oh, and Neji is 19 in this._

_I know I need to work on some other stories, but the Plot Bunny wouldn't go away!_

…

"My god…" Tsunade mumbled under her breath and turned away, the sight of the limbless, faceless body was almost too much for her to handle.

"Lady Hokage," one of the ANBU members tapped the distraught seeming Hokage on her shoulder, "if this is too much, you can leave."

Tsunade shook her head and took a breath. "I just wasn't expecting it is all." She looked at the ANBU. "I can handle it."

The ANBU member nodded once and turned back to the scene. Under his mask hid the twist of horror and disgust at what he saw. If he himself were not an ANBU, he would've turned away with Tsunade; this young girl's corpse was just too grotesque.

The flesh of her face had been either burned away or cut away, either way, there was nothing left of a face except for the bone and blood. Even the muscle tissue was gone, torn away, and with it, her nerve endings. Her eyes, a golden brown that used to shine in the sun, stared up at the bright blue sky in horror. The girl's jaw was locked open in a permanent attempt to scream. The white bone was that only in a few choice spots where blood didn't linger and coagulate.

The rest of her body still had the flesh attached, though – either in an attempt to remove it, or decay already beginning – in places, it was falling off. Blood that clearly oozed not long ago dried on both her body and on the cement. Her arms were spread out to her sides, while her feet were bound together with chicken wire. It was apparently that the chicken wire was placed while the girl was still alive, seeing as it cut into skin and was covered in caked on blood.

_I wonder why she was shaped into a cross. _The ANBU member thought, trying to distract his mind off of the scene in front of him. If he could imagine a cross, then he wouldn't have the urge the throw up in his mask.

"Neji!"

The brown haired ANBU turned swiftly at the sound of his name coming from a familiar voice. He ran towards where his black-haired cousin was running towards him. He removed his mask, revealing the white eyes and perfectly pale, rounded face beneath the mask.

Neji stopped in front of his cousin, trying to block as much of the scene from her as he could. "Lady Hinata, please go home."

Hinata shook her head. "Chichi n-needs you at home right n-now."

Neji shook his head. "Tell Hiashi that there's an urgent matter that needs my attention right now. I can't just go back to the estate right now."

"But, Chichi—"

"Neji." Tsunade walked up to the two Hyuuga's, interrupting them. "I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you two, but I think we understand who did this."

Neji looked at Tsunade, completely forgetting about Hinata. "Who?"

Tsunade showed him a small ceramic black cross. "We found this on the inside of her mouth."

Neji tensed when he saw the little cross and ground his teeth together. "So that gang's back?!"

Tsunade nodded once. "Yes. Black Cross is back."

Hinata tensed when she heard the gang's name. The villagers hadn't been told much about the last incident two years ago, but they knew enough to fear Black Cross.

Neji faced Hinata. "I'm going back to the estate with you! If not to tell Hiashi the situation, then to protect you!"

Hinata nodded hastily. She knew Tsunade would allow this because Black Cross targeted only women. Women alone have always been their targets in the past, and if Neji was with her, then Hinata would not be targeted.

"Go then." Tsunade almost ordered. "And be sure to remind him of just what Black Cross is. He didn't seem to get the message last time."

Neji nodded once and followed Hinata as she ran back to the estate.

…

Meanwhile…

A girl with dirty blonde hair cracked her neck and sighed in relief. She'd had to crack it for a few days now.

"Ah!" She stretched her arms up over her head and linked her hands behind her head to be in a more relaxed position. "Much better!"

Her light green eyes swept the forest ahead of her, making sure that there would be no surprise attack. But, for the most part, she figured that she'd be fine; after all, the only people who stalked this forest were residents or visitors from Konohagakure – her destination. She had papers saying that she was the representative from Sunagakure, moving to the other village to be in a more convenient location for meetings between the two villages. Because of those false papers – forged by the Kazekage, Gaara, himself – anytime there was a meeting, all she had to do was sit in, listen, and convey the important things to Gaara over the phone, or through a letter.

"Hmm… Just a little further to my new home. And then…I can rest peacefully for the first time in a long time." She sighed and smiled.

If only she knew just what she was getting herself into…


End file.
